


The First Pod

by xantissa



Series: Carnival of Rust [7]
Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Ending, F/M, Fix-It, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-17
Updated: 2013-06-20
Packaged: 2017-12-15 07:18:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/846827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xantissa/pseuds/xantissa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jim locates the first cryopod, while planning it’s retrieval some harsh truths come to light. Also Uhura has to work with Khan.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> Plot oh my god why do I even need plot? Oh hell...

 

There was only the five of them in the small conference room, Spock and Uhura, Bones, Jim and of course Khan. All of the other officers were assigned off the ship, the fact that Enterprise was going to be in repairs for a long time meant temporary reassignment for a lot of the crew and paid leave for the others. All except Montgomery Scott the only officer actually working right now, overseeing the repairs made to the Enterprise.

 

The engineer, despite his often volatile characters, reacted surprisingly mildly to the news of Khan being taken back onto the Enterprise. In moments he looked almost eager and it took Jim a while to remember that Khan was an engineer himself, to have created the weapons and designed the ship that Marcus needed.

 

Jim looked around the room and had to stop himself from snorting. It was as he expected.

 

Uhura and Spock were sitting together close to the only door, a position that was both strategically sound and let Jim know in no uncertain terms that they were unhappy with him.

 

Unhappy but still present.

 

Bones sat to the left of Jim, between the Captain and his First Officer while Khan sat on his right exactly in the middle of the oval table preceeding to ignore the glaring he got from the three officers with aplomb. He sat as straight as if he had a metal rod up his ass, his position oddly reflective of Spock. Uhura didn’t even try to look like she wasn’t plotting Khan’s sudden and unexplainable demise and McCoy was... odd. He kept shifting from glaring at the augmented human to resolutely avoiding his gaze.

 

Jim could already feel the tension headache forming.

 

“So.” He started with forced cheerfulness. “I have good news, bad news and... well, more bad news. Which do we want to hear first?”

 

“Start with the good.” Grumbled the doctor, slumping in his chair even more.

 

Something was definitely bothering him and it wasn’t just Khan.

 

“I found one of the two cryopods still on Earth.”

 

Khan’s head snapped in Jim’s direction as if it was on a string, eyes boring into the blond with uncomfortable intensity.

 

_Got you attention now, don’t I?_ Thought Kirk, but it was a fleeting moment of satisfaction. However much he believed Khan was guilty of murder and needed to pay, holding his family’s life over his head was never a good way.

 

“What’s the bad news?” Khan jumped in, correctly deducting that there was an issue with retrieval of the pod.

 

“My contact is willing to sell us the information and provide any and all necessary access to take back the pod and replace it with a dummy one.”

 

Jim knew that the longer they managed to keep the Starfleet in the dark about the pods dissapearing the longer they would have to search for them. The moment somebody connected the dots, the remaining cryopods would be hidden so deep it would be impossible to find them.

 

“What is the problem Captain?” This time it was Spock, of course jumping in when he sensed the hesitance. Jim cringed, he could really count of Spock to poke into every single hole left in his plans.

 

Kirk opened his mouth to speak when somebody else beat him to it.

 

“The money.” Said Khan. Correctly damn it.

 

“Yes the money. I spent most of mine getting you out.” Snarked Jim in return. “So no, I do not have enough. Especially considering the fact that I also have to find a way to provide us transportation that wouldn’t be immediately connected us in case of investigation, unregistered weapons, medical supplies and equipment needed to bring a person out of a three hundred year cryosleep, again, unregistered and untraceable back to us. The contact will be available for the exchange only in the next eight hours, after that the chance is lost.”

 

Okay, so maybe Jim was a little bitter about it. Not only was he slowly losing his mind but he also spent most of the money he inherited from his father on this quest. Sometimes he just felt petty about it.

 

“How much is required?” Spock asked the most logical question.

 

“Thirty thousand credits.”

 

Bones nearly choked, his elbow slipping from the table in his shock.

 

“Jesus. There’s no way in Hell you can get that kind of money in the timeframe we have, hell there’s no way you can get that kind of money on salaries combined, period.”

 

“Money and weapons are not a problem. I will need a few hours to transport them back from London.” Khan interjected suddenly, his face as impassive as ever. “If I have access to a shuttle I can fly down to London, reach my caches and bring everything back within five hours.”

 

Jim was already shaking his head no, even as Spock opened his mouth to protest.

 

“I must object. We absolutely cannot trust Khan alone. Equipped in a means of transport and weapons he might become a threat.”

 

Khan snorted and did his best to look down his nose at Spock.

 

“I am always a threat.” The augment assured the room, his voice as haughty as ever.

 

“Stop it right now!” Jim snapped before this pissing contest evolved into something dangerous. “Our only chance is to split up and go simultaneously to both locations. My contact is in Australia and need I remind you that we don’t have a working transporter anymore? I will need McCoy with me, to ascertain the condition of the pod. I will need backup and it will have to be Mr. Spock as he is the next heaviest hitter of our little group after you Khan. Lieutenant Uhura, you will go with Khan.”

 

It was almost hilarious how both Khan and Spock snapped up at that.

 

“What?!”

 

“Absolutely not!”

 

“See?” Jim asked, rubbing at his temples. “You already agree with each other.” It only made both men scowl more. Really, Jim expected everyone will have at least some degree of problem with working alongside Khan. Of all of them he thought Spock would act the most professional. As it turned out, it was Spock who couldn’t stand being in the same room with the augment for any length of time.

 

“Need I remind you.” The woman in the room stated with an even, almost gentle voice. “That I am a member of Starfleet and am perfectly capable of taking care of myself?”

 

Spock turned to her and Jim could almost feel the need of his friend to argue this decision. Nyota only stared at him calmly, head held high, her whole body radiating self-assurance and stubbornness.

 

“Very well.”

 

It was always incredible to see Uhura cow Spock this way. Granted it was always his fault when something like this happened but damn, Jim still didn’t really understand how those two managed to fight with each other so damn calmly. Like he had said to Uhura a while ago, he sometimes felt like he wanted to rip that fringe out.

 

“Captain.” Khan started and oh, the voice, the intonation, Jim felt his blood pressure double just from that mocking little world.

 

“Can it. We both know you don’t trust me and I don’t trust you yet. There’s no possible way I am letting you off this ship completely alone. You destroyed half of downtown San Francisco and bombed London. I am perfectly aware of the fact that you will come back, you want to see your crew whole and safe again and we are your best chance at the moment but I can’t trust you not to kill somebody because they were in your way.” On this Jim had to remain unmoved. There would be no more bodies, no more people killed. It was no longer a vengeance quest but a rescue mission.

 

Khan looked… displeased, it was the only way to call it, but he didn’t protest again.

 

“If I give you an account number, will you be able to transfer the credits there immediately?”

 

Khan thought for a moment and then nodded.

 

“Yes.”

 

“Great. It will take me at least four hours to reach the meeting place and we have yet to prepare the medbay for our new guest. You will go first and Mr. Spock, Dr. McCoy and I will leave after you confirm that you have the money.”

 

Khan leveled him with a cool, thoughtful stare and Jim knew he was being judged, weighted and probably found lacking. Still, the man nodded.

 

“I will need access to civilian clothing. The people I am meeting know me under a different persona. Lieutenant Uhura will need to dress accordingly.”

 

“We actually have a wide plethora of garments available on ship. The Enterprise is predominantly an explorer ship and a lot of different species we meet require different styles of dress.” Uhura explained walking out the door. “I will show you.”

 

Spock watched them go, his face as still as it always was.

 

“I am not pleased with this course of action.” The Vulcan said quietly, his eyes still fixed on the door.

 

“Don’t worry. Khan won’t hurt Uhura.” Jim tried to reassure his First Officer. There was really no use to remind Spock that there really wasn’t any other option.

 

“I am perfectly aware that harming Lieutenant Uhura is no way beneficial to him right now.”

 

Jim sighed. There really wasn’t anything he could say to that.

 

“Captain... Jim, I must remind you that the drawbacks of having Khan as an ally will always outweigh the benefits.” Damn why was Spock stubborn this time? Why couldn’t he let it go?

 

“Can you just trust me this once Spock?” Jim asked tiredly.

 

“It is not the lack of trust that makes me speak up.” The Vulcan insisted. “It is only concern that your thought process have being compromised by your dependency on that man.”

 

Jim closed his eyes again and lowered his head into his hands, taking deep breaths. ~~~~

 

“You say the risks outweigh the costs.” And oh how he didn’t want to think about it right now. “what do you mean exactly. Morally? Yes, probably. Strategically? No. Because from where I am standing having Khan owing me, being loyal to me, means I have a veritable army of augmented fighters loyal to me, capable of taking over and holding at least five flagships if my estimation is accurate.”

 

Jim lifted his head and looked into his friend’s shocked face.

 

“It grants me backing I could never have otherwise. Having him and his onboard this ship means any outsider spy would have a damned hard time infiltrating this vessel. Why? Because I know, just as well as I know myself, that the first order Khan will give to his people will be to infiltrate the most strategic areas of this ship. I have eyes and ears and something between them too. I’ve noticed just how well he uses his own attractiveness to manipulate people he talks with. Assuming all of his people are also _genetically perfect_ it would mean they all are going to be stunningly beautiful. How much would you like to bet that there’s going to be a sudden increase in intership romances along with the people we will awaken? It’s a game that we didn’t start playing but damn, we are going to finish it. Unlike Khan, I am aware that there is no way to win this, not without a horrific bloodbath to end all bloodbaths. I need him, not only because I am conveniently losing my mind at the moment but because of what Marcus started and I can guarantee that Khan has already figured it out.”

 

“What are you planning?” Spock watched him carefully, his face a mask and Jim wondered if he didn’t just shake his friends’ faith in him.

 

“Planning? Nothing. I am just trying to stay safe in an organization that isn’t what I thought it to be.”

 

Kirk stood up, nervous energy making him restless and jittery.

 

“I had to cajole, beg, threaten and bribe people all over the place to get Khan out of that place. What terrifies me, scares me shitless is that I actually succeeded. That fact alone is proof.”

 

“Proof of what?” The Vulcan asked quietly, at least still willing to listen to him.

 

Jim paced back and forth, clenching and unclenching his hands rapidly.

 

“That whatever Khan’s assessment of Starfleet Command was, it was damn accurate. You see, in that cell, he wasn’t surprised to see me. He expected someone to come, he expected to be offered another deal. The only reason I have a slim chance of convincing him to come to our side is because I acted outside of script. I made the decision not to use his crew as a leverage, like the brass expected me to. The longer I have Khan with me, the more cryopods go missing, the better chances are somebody higher up will cotton on that I have access to a terribly powerful resource that they would very much like to see utilitied in other ways. Imagine what will happen when I refuse to use Khan the way Marcus did?”

 

Jim turned sharply on his heel and stared at the Vulcan.

 

“Assuming the people in charge are of similar mindset to Admiral Marcus,” Spock’s voice indicated that the assumption was heavily farfetched “then you would be eliminated in some inconspicuous way. Barring that, a way to control you would be attempted.”

 

“Yeah, a John Harrison 2.0, version tailored for blond Captains and loyal crew alike.”

 

The words were like stones, heavy and undeniable, sitting between them like a wall.

 

“You presume too much Jim, there was no evidence that anyone else in the Starfleet Command participated in Admiral Marcus’ plot.”

 

Jim rubbed both palms over his head and down to his neck, lowering his head and breathing deeply.

 

“Money.” That was the very thing that ate at Jim day and night, something he couldn’t ignore no matter how much he actually wanted to.

 

Spock frowned.

 

“How much do you think building a ship like that Vengeance cost? How many people had to work on it? How much did buying or renting proper equipment cost? And let’s not forget the research they must have done on Khan. Those doctors, scientist, guards, cleaning staff and hundreds of other people. Somebody had to pay them. Somebody had to order huge amounts of fuel and pay for it. Do you really thing Marcus paid for it from his own pocket?”

 

The Vulcan remained quiet for a while, his expression indicating that he was calculating the sums and probabilities.

 

“Somebody had to have noticed a redistribution of those kind of money and resources.”

 

“Yes.” The blond nodded. “And have you noticed that there hasn’t been a single official enquiry about the money? No commission called to track down the ones responsible? No outcry to find out where such a stunning amount of credits disappeared to in just a single year?”

 

His friend looked grimier by the second, his remarkable intellect catching up to all the implications of Jim’s words. He was actually sorry for dumping it all on Spock, he hoped to spare his crew the inherent paranoia that the knowledge would cause.

 

“You are preparing for war.” Stated Spock calmly, an odd sort of expression on his face.

 

Jim slumped.

 

“I’m not the only one.”

 

Spock narrowed his eyes.

 

“You are hoping a show of power would be enough to restore the balance.”

 

Jim smiled weakly.

 

“Well it worked in the past. It might work now.”

 

Spock was already shaking his head though.

 

“If Khan has seen so far into the deception as you assume he has done, I calculate the chances of him agreeing to that kind of solution to be less that 0.015%”

 

Jim snorted.

 

“That only leaves you with one viable option, if the discussed scenario came to pass.”

 

Kirk looked at Spock again, his heart thundering. Did the Vulcan realize what they were discussing?

 

“I am aware.”

 

Spock met his eyes fearlessly, no hesitation whatsoever. He said nothing but he really didn’t have to.

 

End part 1

15-06-2013


	2. Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Khan and Uhura on Earth. He has too many secrets.

Nyota was proud of her position as a Communications Officer and the best xenolinguist on the Enterprise. Unlike other women trying to have a career in Startfleet, she didn’t try to stifle her own femininity. She was proud of the way she looked, the effect she could have on men should she want to.

 

During her duties, she rarely had a chance to wear anything other than the standard issue uniforms so any chance to dress unofficially was a treat.

 

She snorted at to herself as she looked through her closet to find the shortest skirt she had. _Paid companion_ Khan had said. She found it amusing that he was too polite to say dress as a whore. She was glad Spock hadn’t heard it because her lover was already all set to fight Khan at everything. For all his intellect and stunning ability to deduct facts and probabilities, he was blind to the main reason why he couldn’t stand Khan so much. As she found the tallest pair of heel in her closet and set to change she chucked. Of all things, she never expected Spock to behave as such a man. She wondered how long it would take him to figure out that the reason he fought with Khan so much was the fact that both of them were clearly Alpha and were trying to state their dominance over the other.

 

She pulled on the most adventurous lace teddy she had and chose a jacket tailored low enough to be provocative but still loose enough to hide a weapon. Fastening the waist holster, she remembered the fight she witnessed between Khan and the Klingons on Chronos. The way he decimated them within minutes was breathtaking and scary as hell. At that moment all she could do was pray that Khan wouldn’t see them as targets too.

 

Seeing him revealed as John Harrison had made her blood run cold because they had been helpless against him. When he threw his weapon down and surrendered she hadn’t felt relieved at all, possibly even more threatened, all too aware that something wasn’t right there.

 

Jim wasn’t an overly big man but he was strong, having trained a lot and definitely able to hold his own in a fight. The way he hit Khan and the stunning lack of reaction to the blows was more than a little disturbing for her. The next time she saw Khan fighting was on Earth. After just walking away from a serious crash, nursing many unidentified injuries, he had held his own against Spock. Neither the Vulcan Nerve Pinch nor the sheer power of the blows had knocked Khan down. It took a series of phaser shots, Spock and a heavy piece of steel to the skull to actually down the man. She wasn’t going to delude herself thinking a single phaser, even set to kill, would actually stop him should he want to hurt her. Her only defense was that he had nothing to gain out of her pain and everything to gain if he brought her back unharmed.

 

Finally finished with her clothes she left her quarters and headed for the smaller dock bay where the boys were waiting for her.

 

         Spock was the first to notice her and she had to admit to the heat low in her belly at the double take. His eyes skimmed over her then jerked back, slowly taking in the thigh high boots with incredibly high heels, the miniature miniskirt and the lace peeking from her half closed jacked. Next was Jim and as befitting his womanizer reputation, he let out a long, low whistle that stopped short when Spock fixed him with his disapproving glare.

 

“Damn, I’m feeling jealous of Khan now.”

 

She rolled her eyes at him. He was no longer a fellow cadet but her Captain and it was no longer possible of her to just snap at him whenever she wanted even in the half informal setting as this. This didn’t mean she wouldn’t find a way to get her own licks in, just not immediately.

 

She noticed McCoy, crouched in a corner and searching through a duffel full of medical equipment and hyposprays. He looked flushed and studiously avoided looking her in the eyes.

 

Seriously?

 

She just opened her mouth to call him on it when the door to the bay hissed open again and everyone turned to look at the last arrival. Because she was standing with her back to the door she was able to observe the reaction of other before she turned to look. McCoy looked stunned again, jaw hanging open and eyes wide, Spock looked like he expected this outcome and Jim... well, if she wasn’t standing so close to him she probably wouldn’t notice the way a small flush started crawling up his neck and his eyes turned dark, pupils momentarily blowing wide to obscure the blue.

 

Intrigued, she turned herself to get a look at the new arrival and had to admit that yes, there really was something to stare at.

 

Khan changed himself immensely without really doing much. From the fight on Chronos she was aware that he had curly hair, but the way he carried it, slicked back, made the fact irrelevant. At this moment he could probably stand beside a life-sized picture of himself and not be recognized.

 

He had let his hair down, a mass of dark curls obscuring his forehead and partly covering his eyes. It looked effortlessly styled, like a thousand credit haircut. He had changed his clothes too. He’d found a pristine white shirt with a crisp collar, unbuttoned at his throat, showing off his strong neck and a bit of collarbone. He had a dark, well fitted suit over that and a tight collared coat opened, flapping after him like a cape. Khan looked slimmer in this outfit, even stunningly attractive in the old fashioned get up. He walked with his head held high, back straight, emanating arrogance and a sense of superiority in every step. The sense of immediate threat was muffled somehow under the veneer of sophisticated dress.

 

Uhura realized that not only would she happily look at him twice had she met him on the street, he could probably enter Starfleet Command dressed like that and nobody would protest.

 

Watching Khan she also saw his nostrils flare gently as if he was scenting the air. She knew animals with really sensitive sense of smell could detect minute changes in body chemistry, now she wondered just how much information their scent gave him.

 

“Um, right.” The Captain said, having pulled himself together finally. “The plan, let’s repeat what everybody has to do all right?”

 

“I need two hours to fly down to London, another hour to acquire both the credits and the weapons and then two hours to fly back here. I will have credits transferred onto the provided account the moment I reach my contact.” Khan recited calmly.

 

“I will need six hours to fly down to Australia, around thirty minutes to find my own contact and then another hour to reach the cryopod. Mr. Spock comes with me as both my navigator and backup in case something goes wrong. Should my contact die or try to escape without providing the location of the pod Mr. Spock will be able to retrieve the relevant information without any doubt. McCoy will come with us to assess the condition of the pod. He’s already seen how the viable ones look and with the emergency instruction provided by Khan will be able to wake the person inside in the field.” Jim continued smoothly. “Uhura will keep us in contact using one of the two agreed upon codes.” Khan’s pale eyes shot to Jim at his words. He had no idea about the two codes.

 

Nyota nodded. If anything was wrong or she was in danger somehow she would use the second code. Spock insisted on the precaution and she was all for it. It was simple, logical and effective.

 

“I will only wake the occupant of the cryopod if there’s no way to transport them to Enterprise or if their life is in imminent danger. According to Khan, his crew might be confused upon waking and react with aggression should they see unfamiliar faces.” Bones continued smoothly.

 

“Right, then we make sure nobody sees us on our way back. Scotty equipped the shuttles with the signalers used by repair crew. If anyone asks we are ferrying equipment and resources to The Enterprise. You will find the relevant paperwork in the shuttle. And Khan” here Jim made eye contact with the augment. “No one dies.” As much as Nyota felt jealous from time to time about the incredible career Jim was making in the Starfleet, she had to admit he was a natural leader; Brilliant in his tactics but also incredibly empathic. His ability to read the mood of his people and change it to something more useful to him was a talent she honestly admired.

 

*        *        *

 

         They landed in a small industrial landing dock, filled to bursting with shuttles almost identical to theirs, with crew shouting over each other loading and unloading various goods, equipment, passengers and to her surprise, plants. Not all interplanetary trade was done by huge trading vessels. A lot of it was done by small, independent contractors who had to struggle to make enough profit to take care of taxes, ship upkeep and their own needs. The bustle of the place meant that no one paid them attention, letting them slip through unchallenged.

 

They located the nearest empty taxi, one of those unmanned, driverless ones, and got in. As soon as the door closed behind them Khan rattled out an address. She turned to look at him surprised, because he spoke with a very heavy Russian accent.

 

He only lifted a brow at her. With a snort she leaned back on the seat. After all she was a linguist. She may have specialized in alien languages but even she had to have started somewhere.

 

It took them almost twenty five minutes to reach the required address. Khan got out of the car as soon as it stopped, leaving Uhura to pay for the ride.

 

When she finally got out, she found herself standing out front of a nightclub, the daylight making it look deserted and ominous. Khan was standing a few paces ahead of her, cutting an imposing and totally out of place figure. When she stepped closer to him, he reached out and pulled her against his side, one of his hands splayed possessively over her hip. She could feel the unyielding strength of his arm, just like she did with Spock. Both of them were much stronger than a regular human. Her lover was always overly conscious of that fact, making him be extremely careful and gentle with her. Khan obviously didn’t really care. He affected a bored look and started walking towards the entry manned by a huge bouncer.

 

“I’m a friend of Ivan.”

 

Khan didn’t even slow down, just looked at the bouncer like he was something he had to scrape from the bottom of his shoe and swept past him, pulling Uhura in his wake.

Behind them she could hear the bouncer comm-ing someone and quickly describing first Khan and then her. The speed of his reaction and the succinct description meant high level of training. She had an uncomfortable premonition about just who owned this place.

 

Another man, this time much better dressed than the bouncer came out of a side door.

 

“Welcome, Mr. Makarov” The man was tall, thin and obviously armed. “We didn’t expect you.”

 

“Obviously.” Snorted Khan in his heavy accent “I have business with Ivan.”

 

“Of course.” The man nodded and stepped away from the door to give them access. Nyota didn’t feel good turning her back to him, but Khan pulled her along with his grip on her waist.

 

They followed the corridor, passing a multitude of doors with plaques on them stating them to be a staff room, kitchen, backrooms, storage, old storage, music equipment until they reached the single unmarked door. It was heavy steel and likely a force field on the other side.

 

When they entered, she saw a large office room made with dark wood and expensive materials. There was a man sitting behind a huge desk, balding and pale, he carried around too much weight but his dark eyes were sharp and clear.

 

Khan talked to him in a strange mix of accented English and Russian, calling him Ivan. From the way he accentuated the word, Uhura got the impression that it was rather a title than actual name.

 

She understood the words of their discussion but she realized there was a kind of shorthand going on, their words having a completely different meaning than literal. Khan sat in the chair to the front and right of the desk, leaned back, legs spread wide apart, all arrogance and confidence.

 

He was playing a part and he was playing it well.

 

She was delegated to the role of arm candy, largely ignored by the room at large. There were three bodyguards in the office, one in every corner. They were all armed and something in their posture made her think ex-military.

 

Khan was haggling over something, probably a payment for what she deduced had to be a huge favor he made for the boss. It took time, precious time. The older man was trying to stall, she could read it in his body language, and the way he talked. He kept offering them drinks and snacks, going on tangents. Khan kept ruthlessly bringing him back to the topic.

 

Eventually Khan reached for a pad of legal paper and a pen that was lying on the desk and wrote a number on it. She felt her eyebrows rise at the fact that in place of thirty thousand they needed, he had written three hundred thousand on the paper. Below that he scribbled the number for the account.

 

It was a decidedly odd feeling, witnessing the whole conversation and not understanding anything but the greetings from it.

 

The man in charge took the paper, grimaced and passed the page to one of his bodyguards that melted out of the shadows at a gesture she didn’t notice.

 

“My shuttle is in dock 14 at the Crow’s landing dock. How long will it take you to deliver the rest of the goods?”

 

“An hour at the most.”

 

“Perfect. I shall be going now. Till next time.” Khan rose and summoned her to his side with another imperial gesture. She did her best to plaster herself to his side and smile charmingly at the men watching her like a piece of meat. During the whole scene she was completely ignored, as though she didn’t even exist, like she was beneath their notice. It made her realize just how respected she was onboard the Enterprise and she shuddered a little at the thought of losing that respect. If the augment noticed her reaction, he didn’t comment.

 

Once they were back in the taxi her communicator chirped once, a signal from Spock that they got the transfer.

 

“The credits are in the account.” She informed Khan. The man nodded distractedly.

 

“They wouldn’t dare cross me.”

 

“What did you do for them?” she asked impulsively. It had to be something big if they gave him that kind of money without batting an eye.

 

Khan shot her a look, his eyes pale and intense.

 

“What was necessary.”

 

As soon as they were back on the Enterprise Uhura swore to herself she would start searching the archives for anything that connect Khan to the Russian mafia and the name Makarov. That man had decidedly too many secrets.

 

They reached their shuttle just as a truck pulled up. When the driver got out and opened the back Nyota had to bite her tongue again. She expected a small amount of weapons when he said he could get some, but there inside the truck, were crate after crate of military grade weapons. There were long range riffles, small hand held phasers, spare power cells, communications devices, explosives of every kind and a lot of other things she couldn’t even recognize.

 

Even with the use of the dock’s small cranes it took almost two hours to reload everything onto their shuttle. They were heavily behind schedule and she had to keep firing short messages every ten minutes to assure both Jim and Spock that they were safe, just busy.

 

Khan didn’t really talk to her or interacted with her on the way back. He tolerated her because he had to, but she was of no interest to him at all. She wondered if it was because she was a woman. They knew so little of him and with his past, anything was possible.

 

They got back to the Enterprise without incident or detection, where Scotty was already waiting with a small fleet of anti-gravity forklifts. The Scott was obviously nervous but also very efficient in his work. He got the shuttle unpacked in barely thirty minutes, and immediately started on stripping the shuttle of all added devices so as to not leave a single trace of what they did.

 

As they were helping Scotty take down all markings from the hull of the shuttle Nyota’s communicator pinged an incoming message.

 

“They’ve retrieved the cryopod.”

 

 

The end

16-06-2013

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First: Sorry about the delay. it turned out my poor beta had an emergency surgery and I kept pestering her by email for the betaed fics. She seems fine now but still...
> 
> Second: I am so sorry about the Sherlock moment, really, I just couldn't help myself. Those in the know will recognize the scene, those who didn't fanboy and fangirl Benedict as Sherlock the ways I do will not and it won't have any effect on the fic:)
> 
> AN3: I think I found all the mistakes this time, if you see any striked words please let me know. they aren't supposed to be here.


End file.
